


tender curiosity

by bigstarkenergy



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: During Canon, Established Relationship, M/M, POV Ariadne (Inception), POV Outsider, Post-Canon, Post-Inception, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29369508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigstarkenergy/pseuds/bigstarkenergy
Summary: Ariadne’s not good with people, but that’s the first clue, the first hint that she’s missing something. She watches them more carefully from then on, and she starts to see it, all the little things, piling up into something bigger.
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 56
Collections: Eames' Stupid Cupid 2021





	tender curiosity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IAmANonnieMouse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmANonnieMouse/gifts).



> My prompt was "secret," which I hope I've properly covered. I really hope you enjoy!!

Ariadne has always liked buildings better than people. Buildings have blueprints. Buildings can be assembled and disassembled and put back together and built from the ground up. If you plan it right, buildings work exactly how you want them to.

People, in Ariadne's experience, never do.

But for all her inadequacies in terms of social interaction, she's not blind, and you'd have to be, not to see it. She's not even sure what the first moment is. All she remembers is looking up from her sketches one day and seeing Eames set a coffee cup down on Arthur's desk. Arthur had mumbled a thank you, proprietary, then took a sip, without so much as a single question.

And maybe that's normal, maybe it shouldn't have been anything more than a cup of coffee among colleagues. But in the three weeks that Ariadne's been working with him, she's only learned 5 real facts about Arthur, and three of them came from Cobb. The only way Eames would know Arthur's coffee order is if Arthur had told him. And even if he'd told Eames, it's unlike Arthur to trust him to remember it, taking into account all his snipes about specificity.

Ariadne’s not good with people, but that’s the first clue, the first hint that she’s missing something. She watches them more carefully from then on, and she starts to see it, all the little things, piling up into something bigger. 

The way Arthur smiles, just a fraction, every time Eames wanders over to his desk. The way Eames will toss a whiteboard marker to Arthur when he’s barely even opened his mouth to ask. The way Ariadne walks into the warehouse one day and sees Arthur sitting at Eames’s desk, scrawling something down on a pad of paper. The way they sit so damnably close. 

If it were anyone else, Ariadne would probably brush it off and blame it on her overactive imagination. But for some reason, she’s sure about this, sure in a way that feels like the first time she’d drawn a real building, all clean lines and perfect support. She’s not an expert on people, or on romance, but she’s seen the way Eames steals glances when Arthur isn’t looking, and the way Eames commands Arthur’s attention, like he’s the only person in the room.

One day, Ariadne walks in on them talking, voices pitched down low, shoulders leaning into each other. She stops the door from closing and walks quietly out of the room, waiting five minutes before she heads back in. When she comes back, there’s no indication of Arthur having moved at all, tipped back in his chair, chewing on his pen. Ariadne pulls off her scarf and sits down, aiming a small, private smile down at her desk. 

Yeah, she’s sure.

Before Mal, before Inception, before it all, Dom had been a better friend. He knows this. To this day, he’s still not really sure why Arthur sticks around, if it’s out of loyalty to him, or Mal, or the kids. 

Either way, he’s grateful. 

It isn’t until it’s all over that he figures it out. He never really had the time before, what, with worrying about whether he’d ever get to see his kids again, or live till the next morning. But now that he’s a suburban dad, he has the time. 

It starts with Arthur coming to visit for the first time since Inception, a couple of months later. Dom’s still not sure what strings Saito pulled, but Arthur had argued that there was no point in bringing any extra attention, no matter how much James pleaded to see him for his birthday. Arthur, Dom sometimes forgets, is still an internationally wanted criminal. It’s strange to think of him like that, when all Arthur’s ever been to him is a friend, a partner, someone who’d always pick up the phone. When they’d first met, Arthur had been so young to him, Dom remembers. It’s hard to reconcile that Arthur with the one he knows now, whose smiles are rare, who wears designer suits and knows how to handle a gun better than most expert marksmen. 

The same Arthur who walks into his house and bends down in order to catch James, who practically trips in his hurry to hug Arthur. After trading hugs and gifts, James finally relents and lets go, trodding off happily to go play with the new Lego set Dom bought him. 

“He’s big now,” Arthur notes, sipping a beer. 

Dom tips his head at him. “I couldn’t believe it either,” he admits. He missed a lot over the years.

Arthur shrugs, a sort of gesture that Dom knows through experience means that Arthur is uncomfortable but doesn’t know how to fix it. Dom smiles into his beer. He’s missed this, talking without the guilt and grief, pressing down on both their shoulders. 

They sit there, drinking for a moment, before Arthur speaks. “I’m tired,” he says, stretching out, letting his arm fall across the sofa. 

“Where’d you come in from?”

“Mombasa.”

Dom frowns, tugging at the memory. He can still hear it, Arthur’s voice echoing in the warehouse- “He’s in Mombasa.”

“Mombasa?” Dom asks, careful to keep his tone level.

“Yeah.” Arthur shrugs again. 

Dom feels the grin break out before he can stop it, which causes Arthur to frown. 

“What?” 

Dom doesn’t say anything for a second, just to watch Arthur grow increasingly annoyed. “What?” he asks again, leaning forward. 

“Nothing,” Dom says, taking another sip. “But if I remember correctly, Eames was living there too.”

Arthur suddenly looks down at his beer, the same look on his face that James has after he lies about stealing one of Philippa's toys. Career criminal, Dom notes, mentally laughing. “I’ve been staying at his place,” Arthur finally admits, sitting back up.

Dom smirks into his bottle and doesn’t mention it for the rest of the trip, except to tell Eames to keep him safe. Arthur glares and rolls his eyes, but Dom can’t help it. It’s good.  It’s what would’ve made Mal happy, and, Dom finds, what seems to make Arthur happy too. 

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from a F. Scott Fitzgerald quote, “I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.” in this case, arthur and eames are VERY much in love, but I've always thought that quote was perfect for them, as a sort of first impression.
> 
> if you wanna talk/read more of my fics/scream about the sexual tension between arthur and eames, you can find me at @arthureames on tumblr! 
> 
> kudos and comments are VERY appreciated!


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